Glen Tilley is the immediate past commander of the only Veterans of Foreign Wars post in St. Johns County — the Bryan Tutten Memorial Post 2391 in St. Augustine.

It is the only Veterans of Foreign Wars post in the same county as the headquarters of the Allied Veterans of the World.

When Glen Tilley, immediate past commander of the post, gave me directions to a building about eight miles south of downtown St. Augustine, I jokingly asked if I’d find any Maseratis in the parking lot.

“No,” he said with a laugh. “But there is a tank.”

He wasn’t joking. When I pulled off U.S. 1 and into the parking lot Tuesday morning, there was a Chevy truck, a Honda Civic and a tank. An M60 on loan from the Army.

And that might be a good symbolic starting point — borrowed M60 vs. bought Maseratis — for the differences between the VFW Bryan Tutten Memorial Post 2391 and the Allied Veterans of the World.

The one with a tank out front didn’t choose its name to make money. It chose it to honor Army Sgt. Bryan Joseph Tutten. On Christmas Day 2007, the 33-year-old became the first St. Johns County native to die in a war-related incident in Iraq.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the start of that war. Even if I question the decision to go to Iraq, I certainly respect the men and women who did so. And the anniversary alone would be reason enough to stop by the post. But the reason I was there Tuesday was related to more recent and nearby events — to the news that a St. Augustine-based group allegedly had accumulated $300 million in the name of veterans and then donated only 2 percent to actual veterans.

I wanted to know what folks at Post 2391 thought of this neighborhood news. Some of it can be printed.

Tilley, 63, served 25 years; five years in the Army, 20 in the Navy. Suffice to say, he was pleased to hear that a group whose motives and accounting he had long questioned finally “met its fate.”

But he not only worries that the saga will make people think twice before giving to reputable veterans groups, he believes Allied Veterans already has hurt the VFW post and the community by gobbling up much-needed funds.

“We have been financially strapped for several years,” he said.

While the Allied Veterans leaders were said to have been making millions, the officers at the VFW post made zilch.

It’s in their bylaws.

Not that they’re complaining.

“We love what we do,” Tilley said.

While Allied Veterans leaders were said to be filling their personal pockets, the VFW members were often reaching into theirs to help pay for odds and ends.

While Allied Veterans was dealing with millions, the Post 2391’s big fundraiser, a golf tournament, might bring in $2,000 to $2,500, Tilley said.

While Allied Veterans leaders were buying oceanfront condos, the VFW post decided it could no longer afford a full-time maintenance man and instead began relying heavily on volunteers to take care of their humble highway-front home.

Yes, Allied Veterans would give the post, which has 880 members, a couple hundred dollars several times a year.

In hindsight, hearing just how much Allied Veterans could have given away to them and other groups, this only makes them more upset. But it’s more than the money.

While Allied Veterans made sure the media was well aware of its charitable donations, the VFW Post on U.S. 1 was quietly and consistently involved in all kinds of programs and projects: veterans support, care packages for deployed troops, food baskets for the needy, school programs and awards, a fishing tournament, a children’s Christmas party and on and on.

Beyond that, the post and its canteen serve as sort of a sanctuary for veterans, Tilley said.

Sitting at a table not far from a painting of Sgt. Tutten, he described some of the social events and what they mean to veterans.

He also pointed out one of about a half-dozen gaming machines in the place and said he hopes legislators don’t “go overboard” and ban all of them. The post makes a couple of hundred dollars a month off them, he said.

“And every penny stays here,” he said.

Tilley fumes not only when he hears details of the allegations against Allied Veterans, but also when he sees someone in a military-like uniform — someone he knows isn’t active-duty — asking for money outside a store.

“They pull on heartstrings,” he said, his own voice cracking as he describes senior citizens who lost loved spouses and children donating to what they think is a worthy cause.

“A lot of people can’t say no. Sometimes the people who get taken are the ones who can least afford it.”

I suggest that if the Allied Veterans leaders are convicted, maybe part of their punishment should be to stop by the only VFW post in St. Augustine.

“No,” Tilley said, shaking his head and laughing. “That wouldn’t be a good idea.”

His idea of “poetic justice” is this: the confiscated funds be given to the VFW and other reputable veterans’ organizations.